DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER FLOCCULATION IN COASTAL STREAMS AND ITS EFFECTS ON WATER QUALITY

The formation of “dead zones”, or regions of low dissolved oxygen, in coastal ecosystems is attributed to excess nutrient runoff. However, recent studies suggest that the export of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from land to coastal waters can also deplete oxygen through the stimulation of bacterial growth. When terrestrially-derived DOM mixes with saline estuarine waters, flocculants of particulate organic matter are produced, providing potential habitat for bacteria to more readily access carbon and nutrients. We investigated the response of bacteria to flocculant production using fresh water from a stream draining a wetland and a stream draining a former agricultural field at Longwood’s Hull Springs Farm, Westmoreland County, VA. Laboratory experiments were conducted in air-tight bottles where salt was added to simulate the local salinity gradient, 0 - 13 PSU. Flocculant production and bacterial respiration were measured after a 7-day incubation in the dark. Flocculant production increased with increasing salinity, especially in the wetland stream. Bacterial respiration also increased with increasing salinity, likely related to increased flocculant production, and was highest in the wetland stream compared to the agricultural stream. These results suggest that the quantity and quality of DOM inputs to coastal ecosystems influence water quality, and consequently, ecosystem health

Wetlands in Our Backyard: A Review of Wetland Types in Virginia State Parks

Wetlands constitute a significant component of Virginia’s natural resources and heritage. Though historically they have been discounted—and often denigrated—the exceptional value of wetlands is currently growing in recognition and appreciation. In addition to the value provided by extracted resources and ecological regulation, wetlands also offer people the opportunity to enrich themselves through cultural, educational, and recreational pursuits. The state parks of Virginia provide access to a variety of ecosystems, including a wide array of wetland types. In this review, we document the diversity of wetlands in Virginia State Parks through a typology that groups wetland systems into the three principal classes that most people are accustomed to considering: swamps, marshes, and bogs. It is our hope that this review proves accessible and motivating to individuals exploring Virginia’s great natural diversity

Simplify Reporting through Spatial Data Infrastructures -the Example of the German Marine Data Infrastructure

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Chicken Toll-like Receptor 3 Recognizes Its Cognate Ligand When Ectopically Expressed in Human Cells

Recognition of pathogens by toll-like receptors (TLRs) causes activation of signaling cascades that trigger cytokine secretion and, ultimately, innate immunity. Genes encoding proteins with substantial homology to mammalian TLR1, TLR2, TLR3, TLR4, TLR5, and TLR7 are present in the chicken genome, whereas orthologs of TLR8, TLR9, and TLR10 seem to be defective or missing. Except for chicken TLR2 (ChTLR2), which was previously shown to recognize lipopeptides and lipopolysaccharides (LPS), the ligand specificity of ChTLRs had not been determined. We found that polyI:C, LPS, R848, S-28463, and ODN2006, which are specifically recognized by TLR3, TLR4, TLR7/8, and TLR9 in mammals, induced substantial amounts of type I interferon (IFN) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in freshly prepared chicken splenocytes. To determine the ligand specificity of ChTLR3 and ChTLR7, we used a standard reporter assay frequently employed for analysis of mammalian TLRs. Neither S-28463 nor any other TLR ligand induced reporter activity in human 293 cells expressing ChTLR7. However, human 293 cells expressing ChTLR3 strongly and specifically responded to polyI:C, demonstrating that this chicken receptor represents a true ortholog of mammalian TLR3

Needle biopsy through the abdominal wall for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumour - Does it increase the risk for tumour cell seeding and recurrence?

Purpose: Preoperative percutaneous transabdominal wall biopsy may be considered to diagnose gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) and plan preoperative treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors when an endoscopic biopsy is not possible. Hypothetically, a transabdominal wall biopsy might lead to cell seeding and conversion of a local GIST to a disseminated one. We investigated the influence of preoperative needle biopsy on survival outcomes. Methods: We collected the clinical data from hospital case records of the 397 patients who participated in the Scandinavian Sarcoma Group (SSG) XVIII/Arbeitsgemeinschaft Internistische Onkologie (AIO) randomised trial and who had a transabdominal fine needle and/or core needle biopsy carried out prior to study entry. The SSG XVIII/AIO trial compared 1 and 3 years of adjuvant imatinib in a patient population with a high risk of GIST recurrence after macroscopically radical surgery. The primary end-point was recurrence-free survival (RFS), and the secondary end-points included overall survival (OS). Results: A total of 47 (12.0%) out of the 393 patients with data available underwent a percutaneous biopsy. No significant difference in RFS or OS was found between the patients who underwent or did not undergo a percutaneous biopsy either in the entire series or in subpopulation analyses, except for a statistically significant RFS advantage for patients who had a percutaneous biopsy and a tumour >= 10 cm in diameter. Conclusion: A preoperative diagnostic percutaneous biopsy of a suspected GIST may not increase the risk for GIST recurrence in a patient population who receive adjuvant imatinib after the biopsy. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Sufficient levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and protein intake required to increase muscle mass in sarcopenic older adults - The PROVIDE study

BACKGROUND: Inadequate nutritional intake and altered response of aging muscles to anabolic stimuli from nutrients contribute to the development of sarcopenia. Nutritional interventions show inconsistent results in sarcopenic older adults, which might be influenced by their basal nutritional status. OBJECTIVE: To test if baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations and dietary protein intake influenced changes in muscle mass and function in older adults who received nutritional intervention. METHODS AND DESIGN: Post-hoc analysis was performed in the PROVIDE study that was a randomized controlled, double blind trial among 380 sarcopenic older adults. This study showed that those who received a vitamin D and leucine-enriched whey protein medical nutrition drink for 13 weeks gained more appendicular muscle mass (aMM), and improved lower-extremity function as assessed by the chair stand test compared with controls. To define low and high groups, a baseline serum concentration of 50 nmol/L 25(OH)D and baseline dietary protein intake of 1.0 g/kg/d were used as cut offs. RESULTS: At baseline, participants with lower 25(OH)D concentrations showed lower muscle mass, strength and function compared with participants with a high 25(OH)D, while the group with lower protein intake (g/kg/day) had more muscle mass at baseline compared with the participants with higher protein intake. Participants with higher baseline 25(OH)D concentrations and dietary protein intake had, independent of other determinants, greater gain in appendicular muscle mass, skeletal muscle index (aMM/h2), and relative appendicular muscle mass (aMM/body weight × 100%) in response to the nutritional intervention. There was no effect modification of baseline 25(OH)D status or protein intake on change in chair-stand test. CONCLUSIONS: Sufficient baseline levels of 25(OH)D and protein intake may be required to increase muscle mass as a result of intervention with a vitamin D and protein supplement in sarcopenic older adults. This suggests that current cut-offs in the recommendations for vitamin D and protein intake could be considered the "minimum" for adults with sarcopenia to respond adequately to nutrition strategies aimed at attenuating muscle loss

Divergent trends of large carnivore populations within the Bénoué Complex, North Cameroon, shown by long-term fine-scale monitoring

Large carnivore populations have suffered declines worldwide. For the African continent, these have been particularlystrong in West and Central Africa. The Bénoué Complex in North Cameroon, located in Central Africa, is a keylandscape for their conservation. We determined spatiotemporal trends in lion (Panthera leo), leopard (Panthera pardus)and spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) abundance, using repeated spoor counts on transects from 2007 to 2015. Resultsof the temporal analysis indicate that lion and spotted hyaena abundance reduced over time across the complex, whereasleopards only declined in the last 2 years and primarily in the Faro Block. From the spatial analysis, it became clearspoor abundances differ between areas within the Bénoué Complex and between management types: Spoor densitieswere especially higher in Bouba Ndjida National Park and the hunting zones around Faro. This effect is most probablyrelated to a more effective management strategy in these areas. Our fine-scale long-term monitoring technique provides alow-cost, easy to implement, multi-scale and effective tool for the identification of both regional and range-widecarnivore conservation hotspots.Environmental Biolog

Risk Factors for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor Recurrence in Patients Treated With Adjuvant Imatinib

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